April 30, 2018

Subscribe

‘PUBG’ hackers arrested and fined in China for selling game cheats

by John_A

Combatting hacking and cheating in online games has taken a serious turn for PlayerUknown’s Battlegrounds developer Bluehole/PubgCorp. Over the weekend it was revealed that Chinese authorities arrested some 15 people for their roles in making and selling cheats for the online shooter, and the offending parties have been fined over $4.5 million (30m yuan). What’s more, this doesn’t sound like it’ll be an isolated incident: the BBC writes that more arrests are expected as the investigation goes on.

More than just giving shady players an unfair advantage, the software was apparently mining users’ computers for login information and personal data. Bluehole has a vested interest in keeping PUBG as level a playing field as possible: If players leave because the game is overrun with hackers, the single-game company will go out of business. Nipping this in the bud sends a clear message that nefarious deeds won’t be tolerated and will be punished to the furthest extent of the law. And you thought an IP ban was the end of the world…